Pita bread, also known as pocket bread, is a bread of Middle Eastern origin dating back a number of centuries. In general, pita bread comprises a relatively flat bread having a generally rounded or oval shape. An important aspect of the pita bread is that as a result of a specific baking process described in more detail below, a pocket or inner chamber is formed which can serve to hold various food ingredients such as meats, grains, vegetables, sauces and the like. Thus, pita bread is usually stuffed with these components and eaten.
In the manufacture of pita bread in the prior art, the components of the bread, basically comprising flour, water, yeast, sugar, and salt, as is known in the prior art, are mixed together in a large hopper. The dough formed thereby is then allowed to rise and in a commercial system is formed usually on a conveyor system into the shape of the flattened bread product having a rounded or oval shape. The pita bread in its rounded shape is then allowed to rise slightly, and is then baked in an oven. In the oven, the bread rises as the pocket formed between the top and bottom surface thereof expands as a result of the elevated temperature in the oven.
A problem arises in most prior art pita bread in that it is necessary to cut each pita loaf to gain access to the pocket therein. Conventionally, the pita loaf is cut with a knife. Fast food chains, institutional food suppliers and others have a need for a quick, safe and efficient method of gaining access to the pocket than the standard prior art procedure of using a knife to cut along the surface of each loaf. Individually cutting each loaf is time consuming and somewhat dangerous in that the need to use a knife or other sharp instrument to cut the loaf creates a greater risk of an accidental injury to those working with the loaves and those around them. This is particularly important in view of the fact that many workers in the fast food industry have minimal training and often work under time pressure constraints. There is also a need for standardization in the large food service industry to create a more efficient working system.
A major drawback found in the commercial manufacture of pita bread is that during the baking process as the air inside the pita bread expands forming the pocket, the gases contained therein expand to an uncontrolled amount thereby causing tears, breaks and crevices in the surface of the pita bread. This tends to cause substantial problems because such tears or crevices create permanent faults in the breads surface which can result in leaks of the food and sauces contained in the pocket after it is stuffed. Obviously, such leaks can be messy if the sauces, unbeknownst to the eater, leak out on the eater's clothing, hands and the like.
This problem of obtaining undesired faults in the surface of the pita bread was addressed in a United States Patent obtained by Goglanian (U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,979). Goglanian describes creating small holes in the surface of unbaked pita bread, preferably along the diameter thereof, so that when the perforated pita bread is baked, additional rupturing occurs on the surface thereof, which rupturing allows the escape of the gases inside the pita pocket. Goglanian also describes a number of devices for the manufacture of the invented pita, generally comprising multiple steps and manual perforation of each loaf.
There are a number of drawbacks to the Goglanian system in that the rupturing may be somewhat uncontrolled, and in any event, rupturing is unnecessary for the production of perforated pita bread. The rupturing of the prior art pita bread is also disadvantageous because until such rupturing occurs, the gases may create a weakness in the walls in the pita bread and other areas until such time as the gases can rupture the pita bread in the desired location.
The present device and process overcome the limitations and inadequacies of the prior art to produce a pita bread having the desirable characteristics of perforations without rupturing thereby providing easy separation of the halves thereof and access to the pocket contained therein.